Guru (Sidharth) is a
gangster who works for the mafia man Caesar (Remo Fernandez). His dark past
haunts him incessantly. But as fate would have it, his life crosses path with
Aisha (Shraddha) the bubbly, vivacious girl who changes his life, adding sunshine
to his morose being .

The cold blooded
murderer undergoes a stark transformation as love changes him completely. Just
when the two were beginning to settle down into a happy, blissful married life,
Aisha falls prey to a catastrophic event. Guru is lost without the love of his
life and is determined to hunt down the culprit.

Guru does find the
miscreant Rakesh (Riteish) but cannot understand the reason behind his
psychopathic nature. Does Guru understand Rakesh’s motives behind killing
Aisha? Does Guru manage to get even with Rakesh? And mostly does Guru return to
his dark, sinister world or carry forward in Aisha’s path of pristine living? That's all what Ek Villain says.

Review

The film begins with
the massive catastrophe which forms the pivot of the story. Interestingly Mohit
adapts a smart reverse narration strategy this time, which works in favor of
his film. Beginning with how a local Goa based Gangster Guru falls for the vivacious
and visibly bubbly Shraddha, the film completely changes its tone in spurts.
Ranging from melancholy to anguish, pain and anger, the film’s characters
exhibit myriad hues. When there is even an ounce of sympathy for a psychopathic
killer, it is not hard to pin point that the filmmaker has done his job bang
on.

The romance between
Guru and Aisha is probably not a novel one, involving the regular
bad-guy-turns-good-for-the-girl staple but Tushar Hirannandani’s writing
infuses a certain degree of freshness to their chemistry.

​Diverting from the
usual revenge dramas, the film’s narrative keeps the past and the present
running parallel.

But somehow most of the
scenes are predictable by a common viewer also.

Performance Analysis

Sidharth Malhotra
catapults himself ahead of all the young actors around, upping himself above
the league of actors he is associated with. It would be an understatement to
say he is superlative. He is beyond that. In one of the romantic songs, where a
gangster is falling in love with a woman, the actor’s expressions are accurate.
He stares at her like I would at a trigonometry sum : with confusion, puzzled
and lost. He even gets to do an Amitabh
Bachchan from Shehenshah and the angry young man look and
feel is fantastic. Exhibiting each emotion from heartbreak to pain to anger
with such faultless ease, Malhotra is gloriously sensational.

Riteish Deshmukh
doesn’t remain far behind matching up to him. He is tremendously wicked and the
plainness in his eyes have a haunting quality. He talks to his victims after he
murders them, telling them about his nagging wife and about how much he loves
her. There is no sexual attraction between him and his victims but Riteish does
bring out on his face superbly the peace after a murder. He looks positively
rejuvenated and I don’t think anyone else would have been able to play this
role with such perfection. Deshmukh invests himself completely to the skin of
his character and he is every bit damn good!

Shraddha Kapoor talks
too much in the film and that’s the most pertinent observation. Filling in
perfectly into her role, she is way better than Aashiqui 2. She fits into
her character very neatly and does a stellar job. Her chemistry with Sidharth
is dreamy and memorable. Convulsing in her near death throes, Shraddha stole
the scene and heightened the impact manifolds.

Aamna Sharif makes a
re-entry on the silver screens after a while and she still has the impromptu
quality of delivering well. She is memorable and justifies the reason for
Riteish’s pent up frustration.

Technical Analysis

Its sure that this is his
best work of Mohit Suri till date. He is done his job perfectly by delivering one of the most stirring
thrillers in recent times. At so many places, Mohit shows
how well he understands his characters.

Riteish’s happiness at his wife
professing her love to him at a grim moment when the Mumbai police is hunting
for him, translates on celluloid the real motive of a cold blooded murderer.
That scene is so wonderfully conceptualized that it isn’t difficult to fathom
the psyche of Rakesh’s character. Rather on the contrary, you kind of empathize
with him. We all have such traits buried in us deep down; just that we know how
to tackle it better.

The film’s first hour
is taut and the scene before interval where Riteish and Sidharth have a face
off for the first time is again a memorable one.

In the second half, the story
probably was going the meandering way but the film’s coherent writing holds it
in place. I was so thrilled to watch the momentous work here, where every scene
says more than it lays out! And though I did see the last scene coming my way
quite early in the film but the fact that Suri mounts it so handsomely, that it
works.

The film’s brilliant
music adds to the appeal and from Galliyaan to Banjara to Zaroorat,
every song is like a diamond.

Sidharth’s brooding
painful anger, Riteish’s baffling brilliance and mostly Mohit Suri’s direction
that tackles the story with care, ensuring its every bit fantastic.

Blacks

Barely anything.
Probably the film’s ending is expected but after the high of the climax, the
last scene settles for being even more mesmeric.

Bottom Line

This is sheer
compelling commercial cinema that has a lucid story and its heart in the right
place, without indulging in anything stoop! Mohit Suri doesn’t depend on
‘signpost’ character​s; surprising and gratifying you in equal measures​. The
film’s riveting rhythm, breathtaking performances ​especially from​ Sidharth
and Riteish and the fantastic writing makes ​for a ​​magnificent​, racy and​ ​emotional
​watch. ​